The Band's Visit

I took a deep breathe as I googled mine own film review of The Band's Visit. All I remember is that is was beautiful. The Tony Award winning musical plays on Broadway.


"Israeli born Eran Kolirin’s The Band’s Visit (Bikur ha-tizmoret), now on general release, has the cash-stripped Egyptian Alexandria Ceremonial Orchestra stranded on the outskirts of a small Israeli town in the desert. They would almost look camp wheeling their trolleys in their immaculate powder-blue uniforms if it weren’t for the dignity they possess. They are befriended by cafe owner Dina (Ronit Elkabetz) and invited to stay the night until the morning bus arrives. Tewfiq, the conductor (Sasson Gabai) loves Chet Baker, and if you find his rendition of My Funny Valentine sentimental, then I guess you’ll think the same of this film. If not, it’s a truly beautiful picture with warmth and “tons of loneliness” in Dina’s words. “It’s strange, half of Israel was fighting with Egypt, but we all sit and watch the Arab movie [on TV]”, remembers Kolirin. Tewfiq, never without his pride or his baton, opens himself to Dina that evening bitterly regretting his harshness on his son, who subsequently committed suicide. 
The Band's Visit Turned Away by AMPAS, Middle East Fests

The film’s producer Sophie Dulac has also given us LFF’s Heartbeat Detector (La question humaine) directed by Nicholas Klotz (France) and screened again on the weekend as part of UK Jewish Film Festival. For 7 years, Simon (Mathieu Amalric) has been the company shrink for German chemical firm SC Farb. Deputy director, Karl Rose (Jean-Pierre Kalfon), asks Simon to covertly monitor the mental health of the firm's director, Mathias Just (Michael Lonsdale) who head office thinks has gone a bit doolally. His cover is to establish an orchestra in order to maintain worker productivity – Mathias Just played violin in the company’s Farb Quartet- and the film follows a Holocaust mystery trail. This is another 2.5 hour film but it’s quite engrossing: the music mix is superb (though I wish it wasn’t Schubert’s so oft heard Death and the Maiden quartet again), so too the camera and performances. And the viewer feels strangely involved yet distanced by Klotz’s director technique."